Uma Venkateswaran received her Ph.D. in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics in 1985 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. During 1985-1991, she was a Guest Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics, Stuttgart, Germany and a Research Associate at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1991, she joined the Physics Department at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan as a faculty member. She has taught several physics courses and carried out research in the area of optical properties of solids using spectroscopic and high pressure techniques. She has over 70 publications and over 150 presentations at national and international conferences and institutions in the fields of semiconductors, ferroelectric oxides, fullerenes, and carbon nanotubes. She was a Program Director in the Division of Materials Research, in the Condensed Matter Physics program and in the Office of Special Programs before joining the Office of Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in 2009.